Mr. Jim Gannon:

In terms of the measures the data centres might take, our direction before Christmas provided ESB Networks and EirGrid with some assessment criteria that might incentivise or encourage data centres to take certain actions. The expectation there would be that EirGrid would look at the location of the proposed data centre connection and see whether it is in a constrained or pressurised area. Things data centres could bring to the table would be along the lines of moving the economic activity - the data processing - to other facilities they may have. This is something they do in other jurisdictions. Another measure could be to reduce activity at periods of peak demand and offer up that flexibility to the grid operator. They could also utilise on-site energy storage or generation to allow the grid to experience a reduction in demand from the site. There are a range of actions data centres could offer up alongside their grid connection application and in dialogue with EirGrid.

I do not have the number of connection offers that have been processed or completed by EirGrid to hand. They are numbers EirGrid would have to hand since the direction. EirGrid is in the early stages of updating its 2022 generation capacity statement, which projects the amount of demand and the amount of generation it expects to see over the next ten years. Some of that modelling would contain EirGrid's expectation and updated expectation of what data centre demand would look like in the coming ten years. Underpinning that would be EirGrid's understanding of the connections it would or would not be engaging in and what it expects to come online.